Three Worlds Traiphum in the Asian Art Museum in Berlin
Royal illuminated manuscript Traiphum
(“Three Worlds”)
Thailand, Bangkok • 1776 • opaque colours and gold on paper, book cover: wood • purchased 1894 from
H. Gerini, II 650
A Burmese invasion destroyed the Thai royal city of Ayutthaya in 1767. A surviving general named Taksin became the new king of the Thais. To affirm his royal power, King Taksin commissioned magnificent manuscripts that depict the three levels of the Buddhist cosmos: the book of the “Three Worlds”.